1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to knee pads and in particular to knee pads with clips on adjustable straps which clip onto the pants of the wearer at the sides of the knees with no uncomfortable strap encircling the leg and which employ locking clips which retain the knee pads attached to the pants under all conditions of use.
2. Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98
Knee pads are essential equipment for users engaged in activities requiring contact of the knees with the ground or other surfaces. Under extreme conditions involving strenuous activity, especially in hot climates, knee pads with straps encircling the leg of the user can become very uncomfortable, cut off circulation, cut off air flow, and cause perspiration and irritation and rubbing which may cause rashes to a back of the leg of the user, especially in the sensitive area behind the knee where such encircling straps often rub. The around the knee straps on prior art kneepads often loosen and slip down the leg to expose the knee to injury because they cannot be extremely tight or the user won't have full mobility.
Knee pads must be very durable with combined hard outer shell and soft inner padding to protect the knee of the wearer in adverse use conditions, especially in combat. The knee pads must stay in place without falling off and without moving from the shielding position covering the knee cap of the user to protect the knee of the user adequately. Prior art knee pads do not provide knee pads which adequately address all of the requirements of knee pads used in adverse conditions.
Prior art U.S. Pat. No. 6,704,938, issued Mar. 16, 2004 to Crockett, provides a method and apparatus for attachment of protective pads. A plurality of fasteners is attached spaced around the periphery of a pad, such as a knee or elbow pad, with the fasteners being capable of gripping the ordinary clothing of a worker to secure the pad at the joint to be protected. The fasteners do not damage to material of the clothing, secure the pad in place at all times, and are readily attached to and detached from any ordinary street and/or work clothing. No modification of the clothing is required.
Prior art U.S. Pat. No. 3,346,877, issued Oct. 17, 1967 to Zirves, is for a typical clip-on knee pad having a plurality of alligator clips which secure the pad to the user's pants leg.
Prior art U.S. Pat. No. 6,347,403, issued Feb. 19, 2002 to Wilcox, shows a protective knee system for attaching a pair of knee pads to pair of pants to protect the wearer's knees. The protective knee system includes a pair of pants. The pair of pants is comprised of a pair of leg portions that includes a first panel, a second panel, an inseam and a side seam. There is a plate that includes a first surface and a second surface. There is also a panel that includes a front side, a back side, a top edge, a bottom edge and a pair of side edges. The plate is integrally attached to the front side of the panel. There is a fastening means for securing the panel to the pair of pants such that the pair of side edges of the panel are removably coupled to the inseam and the side seam of the pair of pants.
Prior art U.S. Pat. No. 4,561,123, issued Dec. 31, 1985 to Hull, describes a knee-pad device characterized by a flexible, arcuate pad member attached both above and below the knee. When the person using the knee pad device is standing, the pad member bows away from the knee to allow air to flow around the knee. When the person is kneeling, the pad member conforms to the shape of the knee. The pad member can be attached either to the legs of a pair of pants, or to a pair of straps which encircle a user's legs.
Prior art U.S. Pat. No. 5,592,689, issued Jan. 14, 1997 to Matthews, discloses a sound-emitting knee pad apparatus that includes a pad assembly which emits a sound when located between a knee of an infant person and a floor surface when the person is crawling on the floor surface. A pad connector assembly connects the pad assembly to a knee of the person or to an outside surface of a knee-juxtaposed region of a garment worn by the person. The pad connector assembly includes a first connector assembly attached to an outside surface of a knee-juxtaposed region of a garment. A second connector assembly is attached to an outside surface of the pad assembly. The first connector assembly is a quantity of hook-or-loop connector material. The second connector assembly is a quantity of complementary loop-or-hook connector material. The pad assembly may be comprised of a rubber material. Alternatively, the pad assembly may include an air chamber assembly which includes a plurality of resilient exterior walls which define an interior air chamber. A whistle assembly is supported by one of the resilient exterior walls. The whistle assembly provides an air communication path between the interior air chamber and air outside the interior air chamber. The pad connector assembly may include a strap assembly which includes a first end connected to a first side of the pad assembly and includes a second end connected to a second side of the pad assembly. The strap assembly is comprised of elastic resilient material.
Prior art U.S. Pat. No. 5,611,081, issued Mar. 18, 1997 to Torres, puts forth work pants in which padding is provided to protect both the knees and shins of the worker. In one form of the invention, the knee protective padding and the shin protective padding comprise separate components which are independently receivable within specially configured pockets provided in the work pants.
Prior art U.S. Pat. No. 4,893,355, issued Jan. 16, 1990 to Ritter, concerns a knee protector that covers the front of the knee and extends rearwardly on both sides to protect against mechanical damage to the knee. The protector has foamed padding towards the leg for both comfort and mechanical protection, and a somewhat rigid outer shell to provide strength. For comfort as the leg is flexed, the front of the knee protector has a line about which the rigid shell can move, so that two sections of the shell are articulated, allowing movement in all directions. One side of the knee protector can be shortened to allow the use of a knee splint in conjunction with the knee protector.
Prior art U.S. Pat. No. 6,421,839, issued Jul. 23, 2002 to Vo, indicates work pants which include at least one pant leg and a pocket in the area of the knee. Within each pocket is to be located a cushioning pad. The cushioning pad is to be inserted through an access opening which has a length smaller than the width of the knee pocket which tends to prevent accidental dislodgment of the pad from the knee pocket. A securement device is to be connectable between the pad and the pant leg of the work pant. The knee pocket may be covered by a covering sheet to hopefully prevent the forming of wear holes within the knee area of the work pant.
Prior art U.S. Pat. No. 6,317,888, issued Nov. 20, 2001 to McFarlane, illustrates a knee pad including a multiple layer elongate member conformed to fit over a knee. The middle layer comprises a rigid polymeric material with projecting arms that encircle the leg and clasp the knee pad thereon. An inner cushion layer and an outer semi rigid layer enhance the comfort of the knee pad. The flexible arms include a supplemental reinforcing rib and the arms are positioned so as to support the knee pad by engaging the leg of a wearer below the knee.
Prior art U.S. Pat. No. 2,561,872, issued Jul. 24, 1951 to Krinick, provides a snap-on knee protector pad for overalls and other garments. An alternate embodiment is shown wherein the knee pad is attached to the trouser leg by clips.
What is needed is a knee pad with inner padding and a hard outer shell having clips each attached to an adjustable tightening strap which clip to the sides of the pants and clip lock rings to lock the clips in place.